Council of Ministers
The Bajoran Council of Ministers, also known as the Board of Ministers, Chamber of Ministers, or the Bajoran Council, was the head of the Bajoran Provisional Government. Together with the Vedek Assembly the Chamber of Ministers decided on matters which concerned the whole of Bajor. The Council was located in the Bajoran capital. ( ) While the crew of Deep Space 9 was under the influence of the Saltah'na energy spheres, in 2369, Odo attempted to contact both Starfleet Headquarters and the Bajoran Council to report the situation, but was unable to establish contact due to a communications lockout ordered by Miles O'Brien. ( ) In 2370, as it was being proved that the Cardassians were secretly funding the The Circle, Kira Nerys believed that Navarch Li Nalas could end the civil war on Bajor. Benjamin Sisko ordered a channel be opened to Bajor, so that Li could address the chamber on subspace; however, communications between Bajor and Deep Space 9 was lost. ( ) Kira Nerys presented before the Council of Ministers evidence of Cardassian involvement behind Minister Jaro Essa's attempted coup of the government. She had a manifest PADD from a Kressari freighter, bearing the thumbscan of a gul who authorized the transfer of weapons to the ship. These weapons were transported to The Circle, who used them in their fight against the government. The council went into recess, where they could investigate evidence of Cardassian involvement. ( ) In 2370, the Chamber of Ministers debated the request of the Skrreeans that they be allowed immigration to Bajor. Acting in accordance with the Vedek Assembly, the Ministers denied the request. ( ) For an individual in the government to approach Benjamin Sisko directly, they would have to request permission through the Board of Ministers, a process that could take months to carry out. Doctor Mora Pol circumvented this process later that year by contacting Odo in person, who he had, in turn, ask for Sisko's permission to travel to the Gamma Quadrant to investigate the Changeling's origin. ( ) The Chamber of Ministers made a request, which Kira Nerys found ridiculous, that all arriving vessels were to be screened. ( ) In 2371, some Ministers on the Council called for Elim Garak's removal from Deep Space 9. Benjamin Sisko used this call to persuade Garak to participate in a mission to rescue Kira Nerys from the Obsidian Order. ( ) Later that year, the Chamber of Ministers agreed to hand over three Cardassian dissidents – Natima Lang, Rekelen, and Hogue – to the Cardassian Union in exchange for the release of a half-dozen Bajoran prisoners. ( ) In 2373 the Council of Ministers voted to delay acceptance of Federation membership after Sisko warned that it was too soon to join, and that doing so would destroy Bajor. Sisko was later confronted by Admiral Charlie Whatley about contacting the Chamber of Ministers and try to convince them to change their minds, to tell them that it was a mistake. ( ) Later that year, the Council of Ministers debated signing a nonaggression pact offered by the Dominion. Although it was initially almost certain that the council would reject the pact, it was signed following its endorsement by the Emissary of the Prophets, who argued that it was Bajor's only chance of survival. With the Federation forced to abandon Deep Space 9, the station was occupied by Dominion and Cardassian forces, who were officially welcomed into Bajoran space by Major Kira on behalf of the Council. ( )" In 2374, Major Kira went to the Council of Ministers, asking them to lodge a formal protest against the planned execution of Rom. However, Weyoun had previously informed Kira that any such protest would fall on deaf ears. ( ) In early 2375, the Council of Ministers accepted a request from Senator Kimara Cretak of the Romulan Star Empire to build a field hospital on the Bajoran moon Derna to treat injured Romulans. When evidence emerged that the Romulans had begun arming the facility with plasma torpedoes, the Council of Ministers objected to this action and demanded that the Romulans remove the weapons. The Romulans refused, forcing the two allies into a tense stand-off. The Council of Ministers authorized Colonel Kira Nerys to blockade the hospital, providing her with twelve ships. ( ) , the terms "Chamber of Ministers" and "Council of Ministers" were used to describe the same government body, after which it was referred to only as the "Council of Ministers." }} External link * de:Kammer der Minister nl:Raad van Ministers Category:Bajoran agencies